Heroin dealer tried to evade police on A9 at 130mph, court hears

JOHN ROBERTSON

A DRUG dealer’s car reached 130mph on the notorious A9 as he tried to evade the police, a court heard.

Lawrence Mitchell, 26, kept driving even after the two front tyres had been punctured by a “stinger” spike strip, and it was only after the tyres had come off the wheels and he lost control that the vehicle mounted the verge and finally came to a halt.

• Drug dealer reached speeds of 130mph as he tried to evade police on notorious A9

• Only a “stinger” spike trap stopped the blue Audi he was travelling in

• Over £56,000 worth of heroin found in the car; a further £7,760 worth of heroin was found in a caravan in Fochabers, Moray

Officers found heroin worth up to £56,410 in a rucksack in the blue Audi, and recovered another £7,760 of the drug at a caravan in Fochabers, Moray, where Mitchell had been staying.

Mitchell, of Liverpool, admitted being concerned in the supplying of heroin, and a charge of dangerous driving.

A second man, Louis Butler, 25, of Aberdeen, who had also been staying in the caravan, pleaded guilty to the drugs charge. Both will be sentenced next month.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told that police received intelligence of a delivery of drugs to the Grampian area from England, and a section of the A9 near Aviemore was closed to general traffic about 4pm on 22 March.

The Audi was ordered to stop, but the vehicle accelerated away, and police cars were driven in front of it in an attempt to force it to a controlled stop.

“Mitchell repeatedly drove on both carriageways in an attempt to pass the police cars and was driving at speeds of between 100mph and 130mph. Eventually, a ‘stinger’ spike strip was deployed,” said the advocate-depute, Peter McCormack.